Scarecrow-88 Not as lousy as its rep might lead you to believe, this Myers vehicle gets a lot of mileage out of the star's brand of off the cuff humor. He's a beat poet in San Francisco who seems to exclusively use his soured relations with weapon for his club material. Having trouble with committing to a woman, always coming up with excuses for why they aren't compatible, Myers finally might have met his girl: a butcher played by the lovely Travis. Anthony LaPaglia, as Myers' cop buddy, is hilarious in his Serpico-inspired cop attire and look, often bewildered by his pal's inability to have a successful relationship. Myers as his lead's loud and blunt-honest Scottish immigrant father, Brenda Fricker as the mom who reads cheap trash mags and believes their stories to be true, Amanda Plummer as Travis' scary sis, and Arkin as LaPaglia's boss trying to learn a rougher side to address future officers under his watch (seeking LaPaglia's advice!) all offer fun parts to curb the rather ho-hum plot developments regarding whether or not Travis is indeed an axe murderer or not. In the end it is more about the cast playing off each other and Myers reacting to tell-tell signs of Travis' behavior that give this its charm. Travis plays with her character's facial expressions to keep us guessing if she is a killer while Myers is a toy of the plot machinations. San Francisco makes for an appealing back drop, too. Fricker's strong attraction to LaPaglia and Myers naked meeting with "Ralph" are highlights. Cool intro and closing credits song really sets up the romance for the city and its leads.

Robert D. Ruplenas I hate to be the turd in the punchbowl here, a role to which I am accustomed, but just what is it with all the enthusiasm for this lame flick? I just don't find Mike Myers funny at all. I don't know whether it's his comic persona (or lack of same) or the heavy-as-lead "comic" writing. Whatever (then again I can't figure out why people think Leslie Nielsen is such a hoot, either). Myers is lame enough in the role of Charlie, but his portrayal of his dad, Stuart, is head-scratchingly incomprehensible. I didn't find Anthony Lapaglia as the cop very funny either, and his lines also seemed lame. And I'll never figure out why the great Alan Arkin signed on to this dog; he must have needed the work at the time. This is supposed to be some sort of "cult classic." Go figure.

secondtake So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)Well, there are some scenes in here so hilarious I have been able to watch them over and over. And there are other parts that are pretty lame. I'll admit to fast forwarding a few times, but I watched it straight through again last night and it's not a horrible movie at all. There are some novelties to it (the opening scene with the camera latched to the coffee cup, or even just the incredibly bad beat poetry performances). And there is a clever basic plot, which keeps you guessing (the first time through).I'm not a Mike Myers fan, but then, he's supposed to be an annoying twit in this one, I think. But that's not counting his role as an older Scottish man (sound familiar), which is does with such brilliance it's hard to not love him. (You can see his co-actors laughing too hard, actually, at times--they were overwhelmed by how funny he was.) This is a genre of comedy that is partly made of up individual skits, or even particular moments that are set-ups for one-liners, and so this sequence of funny situations seems at times a little forced together, and by nature a little uneven. But the funniest of them (and we might not agree on all of these) are really really funny. That's worth a lot.

tedg Sometimes a movie only develops worth after a subsequent movie worked. I myself disliked "Shrek" because of the underhanded attempt to undermine the Disney/Pixar alliance, and the smarmy Bill Gates strategy. But some people did like it, largely because of the voices and key to that was the Scots' version of Shrek. Apparently, several full films were made before Katzenberg accepted the version that Myers eventually made. It is the character he created here. This film is rather unappealing, but you can see the character workshop in front of you, Myers working on something. It isn't quite there. It doesn't make sense here, but it will a few years later.I really adore Plummer. She doesn't get many chances, but boy does she grab the camera with her teeth. Wow.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.